Portrait of a Noblewoman Dressed in Mourning
c. 1600
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
221 × 122.5 cm (87 × 48 1/4 in.); Framed: 243.9 × 147.4 × 5.1 cm (96 × 58 × 2 in.)
Classification
oil on canvas
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
11390
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The subject of this imposing portrait is unknown today. Her black costume and traditional mourning veil indicate her status as an aristocratic widow, while the prominent crucifix refers to her piety, as does the small prayer book in her hand. The woman is nearly life-size and framed by a dramatic black curtain, conventions in portraiture of the nobility across Europe at the time. In the decades around 1600, the Medici dukes of Florence intermarried with the ruling houses of Europe, and their cou...
About the Artist
Jacopo da Empoli · 1544–1640
Jacopo Chimenti, known as Jacopo da Empoli (1551-1640), was an Italian Florentine painter whose long career spanned the transition from late Mannerism to early Baroque. Born in Florence on April 30, 1551 (Empoli being his father's birthplace, from which Jacopo derived his artistic name), he became an important figure in the Counter-Maniera or Counter-Mannerist movement that reacted against the com...